Flight Service Stations (FSSs) and Automated Flight Service Stations (AFSSs) are air traffic facilities which provide pilot briefings, en route communications and VFR search and rescue services, assist lost aircraft and aircraft in emergency situations, relay ATC clearances, originate Notices to Airmen, broadcast aviation weather and NAS information, receive and process IFR flight plans, and monitor navigational aids (NAVAIDs). In addition, at selected locations, FSSs/AFSSs provide En route Flight Advisory Service (Flight Watch), take weather observations, issue airport advisories, and advise Customs and Immigration of transborder flights.
Pilot Briefers at flight service stations render preflight, in-flight, and emergency assistance to all pilots on request. They give information about actual weather conditions and forecasts for airports and flight paths, relay air traffic control instructions between controllers and pilots, assist pilots in emergency situations, and initiate searches for missing or overdue aircraft. FSSs/AFSSs provide information to all airspace users, including the military. In October 2005, operation of all FSSs/AFSSs, except those in Alaska, was turned over to the Lockheed Martin Corporation. In the months after the transition, 38 existing AFSSs are slated to close, leaving 17 “Legacy” stations and 3 “Hub” stations. Services to pilots are expected to be equal to or better than prior to the change, and the contract is expected to save the government about $2.2 billion over ten years.
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Graphical Weather System
The Graphical Weather Service (GWS) provides a graphical representation of weather information that is transmitted to aircraft and displayed on the cockpit display unit. The service is derived from ground-based Mode S sensors and offers information to all types of aircraft, regardless of the presence of on-board weather avoidance equipment. The general aviation community has been very pro-active in evaluating this technology, as they have already participated in field evaluations in Mode S stations across the U.S. The service is provided through one of two types of flight information services (FIS) systems. Broadcast only systems, called FIS-B, include a ground- or space-based transmitter, an aircraft receiver, and a portable or installed cockpit display device. They allow pilots to passively collect weather and other operational data and to display that data at the appropriate time. They can display graphical weather products such as radar composite/mosaic images, temporary flight restricted airspace and other NOTAMs. In addition to graphical weather products, they can also show textual information, such as Aviation Routine Weather Reports (METARs)/Aviation Selected Special Weather Reports (SPECIs) and Terminal Area Forecasts (TAFs).
Two-way FIS systems are request/reply systems, that is, they permit the pilot to make specific requests for weather and other operational information. An FIS service provider will then prepare a reply in response to that specific request and transmit the product to that specific aircraft for display in the cockpit.
Two-way FIS systems are request/reply systems, that is, they permit the pilot to make specific requests for weather and other operational information. An FIS service provider will then prepare a reply in response to that specific request and transmit the product to that specific aircraft for display in the cockpit.
IFR Operations in the National Airspace System
Today’s National Airspace System (NAS) consists of a complex collection of facilities, systems, equipment, procedures, and airports operated by thousands of people to provide a safe and efficient flying environment. The NAS includes:
- More than 690 air traffic control (ATC) facilities with associated systems and equipment to provide radar and communication service.
- Volumes of procedural and safety information necessary for users to operate in the system and for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees to effectively provide essential services.
- More than 19,800 airports capable of accommodating an array of aircraft operations, many of which support instrument flight rules (IFR) departures and arrivals.
- Approximately 11,120 air navigation facilities.
- Approximately 45,800 FAA employees who provide air traffic control, flight service, security, field maintenance, certification, systems acquisitions, and a variety of other services.
- Approximately 13,000 instrument flight procedures as of September 2005, including 1,159 instrument landing system (ILS), 121 ILS Category (CAT) II, 87 ILS CAT III, 7 ILS with precision runway monitoring (PRM), 3 microwave landing system (MLS), 1,261 nondirectional beacon (NDB), 2,638 VHF omnidirectional range (VOR), and 3,530 area navigation (RNAV), 30 localizer type directional aid (LDA), 1,337 localizer (LOC), 17 simplified directional facility (SDF), 607 standard instrument departure (SID), and 356 standard terminal arrival (STAR).
- Approximately 48,200,000 instrument operations logged by FAA towers annually, of which 30 percent are air carrier, 27 percent air taxi, 37 percent general aviation, and 6 percent military.
America’s aviation industry is projecting continued increases in business, recreation, and personal travel. The FAA expects airlines in the United States (U.S.) to carry about 45 percent more passengers by the year 2015 than they do today. [Figure 1-1]
How The System Components Work Together
The NAS comprises the common network of U.S. airspace, air navigation facilities, equipment, services, airports and landing areas, aeronautical charts, information and services, rules and regulations, procedures, technical information, manpower, and material. Included are system components shared jointly with the military. The underlying demand for air commerce is people’s desire to travel for business and pleasure and to ship cargo by air. This demand grows with the economy independent of the capacity or performance of the NAS. As the economy grows, more and more people want to fly, whether the system can handle it or not. Realized demand refers to flight plans filed by the airlines and other airspace users to access the system. It is moderated by the airline’s understanding of the number of flights that can be accommodated without encountering unacceptable delay, and is limited by the capacity for the system.
Airport Surveillance Radar
The direction and coordination of IFR traffic within specific terminal areas is delegated to airport surveillance radar (ASR) facilities. Approach and departure control manage traffic at airports with ASR. This radar system is designed to provide relatively short-range coverage in the airport vicinity and to serve as an expeditious means of handling terminal area traffic. The ASR also can be used as an instrument approach aid. Terminal radar approach control facilities (TRACONs) provide radar and nonradar services at major airports. The primary responsibility of each TRACON is to ensure safe separation of aircraft transitioning from departure to cruise flight or from cruise to a landing approach.
Most ASR facilities throughout the country use a form of automated radar terminal system (ARTS). This system has several different configurations that depend on the computer equipment and software programs used. Usually the busiest terminals in the country have the most sophisticated computers and programs. The type of system installed is designated by a suffix of numbers and letters. For example, an ARTS-IIIA installation can detect, track, and predict primary, as well as secondary, radar returns. [Figure 1-13]
On a controller’s radar screen, ARTS equipment automatically provides a continuous display of an aircraft’s position, altitude, groundspeed, and other pertinent information. This information is updated continuously as the aircraft progresses through the terminal area. To gain maximum benefit from the system, each aircraft in the area must be equipped with a Mode C altitude encoding transponder, although this is not an operational requirement. Direct altitude readouts eliminate the need for time consuming verbal communication between controllers and pilots to verify altitude. This helps to increase the number of aircraft that may be handled by one controller at a given time.
The FAA has begun replacing the ARTS systems with newer equipment in some areas. The new system is called STARS, for Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System. STARS is discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
Most ASR facilities throughout the country use a form of automated radar terminal system (ARTS). This system has several different configurations that depend on the computer equipment and software programs used. Usually the busiest terminals in the country have the most sophisticated computers and programs. The type of system installed is designated by a suffix of numbers and letters. For example, an ARTS-IIIA installation can detect, track, and predict primary, as well as secondary, radar returns. [Figure 1-13]
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| ARTS-III Radar Display |
On a controller’s radar screen, ARTS equipment automatically provides a continuous display of an aircraft’s position, altitude, groundspeed, and other pertinent information. This information is updated continuously as the aircraft progresses through the terminal area. To gain maximum benefit from the system, each aircraft in the area must be equipped with a Mode C altitude encoding transponder, although this is not an operational requirement. Direct altitude readouts eliminate the need for time consuming verbal communication between controllers and pilots to verify altitude. This helps to increase the number of aircraft that may be handled by one controller at a given time.
The FAA has begun replacing the ARTS systems with newer equipment in some areas. The new system is called STARS, for Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System. STARS is discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
Flow Control
ATC provides IFR aircraft separation services for NAS users. Since the capabilities of IFR operators vary from airlines operating hundreds of complex jet aircraft to private pilots in single engine, piston-powered airplanes, the ATC system must accommodate the least sophisticated user. The lowest common denominator is the individual controller speaking to a single pilot on a VHF voice radio channel. While this commonality is desirable, it has led to a mindset where other opportunities to interact with NAS users have gone undeveloped. The greatest numbers of operations at the 20 busiest air carrier airports are commercial operators (airlines and commuters) operating IFR with some form of ground-based operational control. Since not all IFR operations have ground-based operational control, very little effort has been expended in developing ATC and Airline Operations Control Center (AOC) collaboration techniques, even though ground-based computer-to-computer links can provide great data transfer capacity. Until the relatively recent concept of Air Traffic Control-Traffic Flow Management (ATC-TFM), the primary purpose of ATC was aircraft separation, and the direct pilot-controller interaction was adequate to the task. Effective and efficient traffic flow management now requires a new level of control that includes the interaction of and information transfer among ATC, TFM, AOCs, and the cockpit. [Figure 1-17]
As the first step in modernizing the traffic flow management infrastructure, the FAA began reengineering traffic flow management software using commercial off-the-shelf products. In FY 1996, the FAA and NASA collaborated on new traffic flow management research and development efforts for the development of collaborative decision making tools that will enable FAA traffic flow managers to work cooperatively with airline personnel in responding to congested conditions. Additionally, the FAA provided a flight scheduling software system to nine airlines.
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| Flow Control Restriction |
As the first step in modernizing the traffic flow management infrastructure, the FAA began reengineering traffic flow management software using commercial off-the-shelf products. In FY 1996, the FAA and NASA collaborated on new traffic flow management research and development efforts for the development of collaborative decision making tools that will enable FAA traffic flow managers to work cooperatively with airline personnel in responding to congested conditions. Additionally, the FAA provided a flight scheduling software system to nine airlines.
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